Signal · Pricing

Unproductive discounts

Clients who received credit notes but whose subsequent spend did not grow — discounts that did not buy loyalty.

Pricing

What the signal measures

Clients who received credit notes but whose subsequent spend did not grow — discounts that did not buy loyalty.

Why it matters

Discounts are supposed to buy loyalty — either a bigger next order, a longer commitment, or a smoother relationship. When they do not, you are just leaving margin on the table. This signal identifies clients whose credit-note history did not correlate with a subsequent uplift in spend, so you know not to reflexively discount them the next time.

How to act on it

For clients with a history of discounts and no spend uplift, the drafted action is a scope reset — "we've issued £X in credits over the last 12 months; going forward, let's align on scope up front so we don't need to". Not punitive, just an explicit change of pattern.

Worked example — fixture consultancy

On the fixture, Brightwave Agency has received three credit notes (£1500 each) across the window and their spend has flat-lined rather than grown. Dovetail Ltd has received four credit notes (£300 each) and is one of the top-2 late payers. Both are surfaced as unproductive-discount candidates — discounts that did not buy loyalty and are quietly training a pattern.